I'm not sure if this is relevant to this forum, but the whole Hydrogenaudio forums have been helpful in the past, so I figured somebody will probably have a resolution.

Basically, I'm going to record a video of myself and a friend playing some music, and I want the audio to be as high a quality as I can. He'll be playing acoustic guitar and singing, and I'll be drumming and triggering samples on my MPC1000. I want to capture the music we're playing on the spot. I could run a line from my MPC to the computer and record its output digitally as I play it, and record another track from the mic to the computer, but because we both need to actually hear what I'm playing wouldn't I come through on the vocal and guitar recording? That's the problem I'm imagining.

So far the best idea I have is to record the video and set up the mic in an even part of the room, then make sure our levels are audibly as they should be (like a live show would be) and record everything through the mic. After the performance is done, I'd maybe EQ the audio to the best quality I could, and drop that into the audio track of the video. It'd be better than the camera audio, at least. The camera might actually have an XLR input too.

I've been watching this girl and trying to figure out how she's recording it all without getting feedback or recording everything else that's playing whenever she uses the mic. Or is this all just a case of yeah, she is recording all the other stuff, but it's just not noticeable?

...but because we both need to actually hear what I'm playing wouldn't I come through on the vocal and guitar recording? That's the problem I'm imagining.

Headphones. (You might need a mixer to create the headphone mix.)

Professional studios use headphones, isolation booths, direct-inputs for electric guitars, etc. And/or they often record the instruments & vocals one at time.

Or with enough microphones, you can record "live" and you can get enough isolation for a multi-track recording. However, you won't get complete isolation so you won't be able to re-take and replace a track.

QUOTE

So far the best idea I have is to record the video and set up the mic in an even part of the room, then make sure our levels are audibly as they should be (like a live show would be) and record everything through the mic. After the performance is done,

That can work. You'll have to experiment with microphone location/position. Of course, the acoustics of the room and background noise can present problems too.

The way we hear the sound is different from the way a recording sounds, and generally you need to get the mic close to the source to minimize the "room sound". More mics helps too.

QUOTE

The camera might actually have an XLR input too.

If you have an XLR mic, and you don't have an audio interface with an XLR connector, that will give you the best results. All performance/recording mixs are low-impedance balanced with XLR connectors, and they do not interface with a regular soundcard (high-impedance unbalanced). And the mic input on most souncards is worthless for quality recording.

I get best results by recording audio and video simultaneously but separately. I then use audio production software to make the audio sound good then combine it with video with video editing software. You may need a separate monitoring system so that you can hear yourself and each other. This is hardware intensive with a steep learning curve.

Or you can plug the MPC1000 into a guitar amp and stick a mic in the middle of the room...

Headphones. (You might need a mixer to create the headphone mix.) Professional studios use headphones, isolation booths, direct-inputs for electric guitars, etc. And/or they often record the instruments & vocals one at time. Or with enough microphones, you can record "live" and you can get enough isolation for a multi-track recording. However, you won't get complete isolation so you won't be able to re-take and replace a track.

That's a really good suggestion. So we'd both plug into the mixer and hear everything each of us are playing through the headphones? I'm trying to think if I could do that. I think I only have one headphone port on the mixer though. We might look weird too, both wearing headphones in a video. We are treating this as more like a live performance anyway, so any non-critical errors will be kept in. If we do something we aren't happy with, we'll just perform it again, so we don't expect to need to re-record any independent parts.

QUOTE (DVDdoug @ Jan 23 2012, 19:50)

You'll have to experiment with microphone location/position. Of course, the acoustics of the room and background noise can present problems too. The way we hear the sound is different from the way a recording sounds, and generally you need to get the mic close to the source to minimize the "room sound". More mics helps too.

Yeah, that's the drawback I was expecting. We'd trial and error the levels, recording, and room acoustics. If I plug the MPC directly into my soundcard and record the MPC's part to an Audition session all the mic would be needed for would be the singing and guitar, so in this arrangement it could sit really close to the source, counteracting the background and room noise a bit.

QUOTE (DVDdoug @ Jan 23 2012, 19:50)

If you have an XLR mic, and you don't have an audio interface with an XLR connector, that will give you the best results. All performance/recording mixs are low-impedance balanced with XLR connectors, and they do not interface with a regular soundcard (high-impedance unbalanced). And the mic input on most souncards is worthless for quality recording.

I have a Line 6 Toneport UX1 soundcard with an XLR input, 1/4" jack input for guitars, and a headphone input. At the back there are two 1/4" jack line ins, a 1/4" stereo monitor in, a USB port, and two 1/4" jack analogue outs. Is there any way I could record the MPC into Audition while simultaneously recording my friend's guitar and vocals through the mic? That would be ideal I think, given my resources.

QUOTE (Notat @ Jan 24 2012, 21:45)

I get best results by recording audio and video simultaneously but separately. I then use audio production software to make the audio sound good then combine it with video with video editing software. You may need a separate monitoring system so that you can hear yourself and each other. This is hardware intensive with a steep learning curve. Or you can plug the MPC1000 into a guitar amp and stick a mic in the middle of the room...

Yeah, this is what I was planning on doing, so I could record the audio through actual audio recording gear to get the best quality, and drop the recording into the audio track in Sony Vegas for the video accompanying it. To hear both of our parts together won't be so hard (that is, if I understand what you are saying, haha) - I was just going to plug my MPC into some monitors to amplify it (that are separate from the computer), and he's playing acoustic guitar anyway.